My Happy Place

I often refer to fly fishing as the hardest possible way to catch fish. I’ve also been known to call it the most frustrating, time-consuming, and potentially expensive way to fish (although I’ve got some good ways to do it on the cheap).

And despite all of that, when I’m fly fishing, I’m in my happy place. Does that sound like a contradiction? Does it sound like I’m a little crazy? Well, both might be right, but for me, it’s the truth.

My wife loves to do yoga. It’s how she decompresses and de-stresses from a long week at work. After I had a particularly stressful week at work recently, she invited me to attend a yoga class with her. “It’s a great way to relax and forget the worries of the day,” she said. I thought about it for a minute and said, “Fly fishing is my yoga. It’s my Zen.” It sounded campy, but I really meant it.

In yoga (as far as I understand it), you’re working to center your thoughts and exist in the moment. For me, that happens when I’m standing in the middle of the river flinging flies. Maybe it is second nature for you, but I really need to remove all distractions from my mind and be focused on the act of fly fishing. I need to be in that moment and forget about everything else for a little while. Case in point, I was fishing a couple months ago, and my mind was distracted… and I proceeded to get my fly stuck in my hat (probably good that I was wearing a hat, or it would have been in my head).

While my wife focuses on making the different poses, I have to focus on every step as I wade through the current on slippery rocks while trying not to spook the fish. While she focuses on her breathing, I focus on how I guide my fly through the air to land as gently as possible upon the water. While she gets to wear comfy yoga pants, I get to wear my big rubber britches. Okay, I may have taken the comparisons too far there, but I still think fly fishing is my yoga.

So what do you think? Is fly fishing your yoga? Do you find it relaxing, frustrating, or a little of each? Or maybe this Bob guy is just a few feathers short of a fly.